


Alone In Hogwarts

by padfootagain



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Romantic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-11
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-09-16 14:06:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16955484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootagain/pseuds/padfootagain
Summary: You are to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, but there is no way Sirius will let you spend the Christmas holidays on your own.





	Alone In Hogwarts

**Author's Note:**

> Just cuteness for the holiday season. Hope you like it!

You were to celebrate Christmas on your own. Your parents were travelling and you didn’t feel like spending it with your cousins that you hated, so you had opted for remaining in Hogwarts for the holidays.

What you had not thought about was the fact that none of your friends were staying with you…

You heaved a sigh as you watched the large grounds covered with snow, your breath forming a little cloud before your face and blurring the world for a few seconds, before it got caught by the wind and vanished.

You rested your head against the trunk of the large tree under which you were sitting, at the edge of the forbidden forest, near Hagrid’s home. You remained lost in your own thoughts for a while, your gaze drifting through the snow and the surface of the frozen lake, and you were oblivious enough of your surroundings not to hear the boy who was walking towards you.

“Hello, Y/N!”

You jumped, looking up at the newcomer and you heaved a sigh of relief, pressing your hand against your heart when you recognized Sirius.

“Are you insane? I could have died of a heart attack!” you complained, making him laugh.

“You’re the one who’s too easily startled, and who is too often lost in thought,” he replied with a crooked smirk.

You smiled, making room for him on the blanket you were sitting on, and Sirius joined you on the ground.

“What are you doing here?” you asked him.

Sirius shrugged, and started to tie his hair up into a bun.

“Just wanted to see you,” he smiled. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to work for McGonagall’s essay,” you said, showing him the book you were attempting to read.

“It’s for next Tuesday, you’ve got plenty of time!” he laughed, finally managing to attach his hair.

Although, as always, one lock of his dark hair was escaping from the bun and brushing the side of his face, almost hiding his right eye. Your heart skipped a beat, as your refrained your urge to brush the lock behind his ear.

He looked so damn hot with a bun…

“All of us aren’t as talented as you are in Transfiguration,” you replied. “I have to work hard to have good grades! And may I remind you that ‘next Tuesday’ is just four days away?”

He took your book away from you, too fast for you to react and he merely laughed as you complained and struggled to take the book back.

“Sirius, stop it!”

“You’re working too much!” he replied.

“You’re insufferable!”

“You’re cute.”

You gave up and let him keep your book, needing to turn away to hide your blushing cheeks.

“You’re having such a bad influence on me!” you joked.

Sirius chuckled, looking at you with a dreamy expression that he forced to leave his face before you could look at him again.

“Was just wondering…” he said softly, and you turned towards him again. “Mind sharing a compartment for the trip back home? I mean… Peter is sick as hell, and I’m not sure he’ll be back in good health so fast.”

“Oh… I’d love to,” you said apologetically. “But I can’t. I’m staying at Hogwarts for Christmas.”

“Really?” Sirius frowned. “Why?”

“My parents are busy because of their work. And I don’t like my cousins, so I’d rather stay away from them for Christmas. Besides… it’s our last year, it makes a few more memories of this place to carry away with me in June.”

“But… who’s staying with you for Christmas then?”

“Nobody,” you shrugged. “But that’s alright, I’ll eat tons of chocolate and… I’ll go to see Hagrid!”

“You… you’re going to spend Christmas alone…” he frowned, and you could see a flash of sadness passing through his grey eyes.

He knew way to well what spending Christmas alone felt like. He had spent all his Christmas alone at Grimmauld Place until he ran away to reach the Potters’ house.

“Why don’t you come to the Potters with us,” he offered. “I’m sure it won’t bother them at all, they love you anyway!”

“Sirius, that’s very kind of you but I’m fine,” you reassured him, patting his shoulder in hope to make these memories you could catch a glimpse of in his grey eyes disappear again. “I’m okay here. And I don’t want to bother the Potters.”

“I’m sure you won’t bother them at all.”

“It’s okay, I’ll stay here for Christmas. Really, it’s okay.”

He opened his mouth to speak again, but you shushed him.

“I said no,” you giggled. “Stop insisting. Now, what’s up? Peter is sick right?”

Sirius gave you a little smile, before nodding, and starting to talk about his day.

From his little home, Hagrid watched the two of you by the window as night slowly fell upon the world, snow slowly starting to fall. It was a familiar sight though, the two of you sitting under a tree and talking for hours. A tender smile appeared on his large face, and he didn’t have the heart to break this moment for the two of you, so he let you speak in peace even after night had fallen and you should have walked back to the Castle already. After all, you and Sirius never had brighter smiles on your faces than when you were together…

—————————————————————————-

You heaved a sigh. The Hufflepuff common room was now empty, and you were left alone with a little first year who spent his time reading anyway. At least you didn’t need to babysit him…

You fiddled with your yellow tie, laying on a comfortable couch and staring at the immaculate ceiling, wondering what you could do. Your friends had left half an hour ago, you couldn’t be bored already…

Your mind drifted for a moment, and Sirius’s face appeared on the ceiling, and you found yourself wishing he was there with you.

Although you were happy for him really. He would be happy at the Potters’ for Christmas. He was with the family he had chosen for himself, and you knew that there was no better place for him to be now.

You jumped as someone knocked on the door of the Common Room, wondering who it could be. Probably a friend of the first year you were sharing the Hufflepuff dorms and Common Room with…

But when you opened the door, you didn’t find a first year at all, and your eyes grew round with shock as they met Sirius’s grey ones.

“Surprise!” Sirius grinned.

“Si… Sirius,” you stuttered, completely aghast. “But… what are you doing here? You… you should be on the train! Oh Merlin, don’t tell me you’ve missed it!”

He chuckled, chasing his dark locks of hair away from his eyes.

“No, I didn’t miss it, you silly!” he laughed. “I’m staying for the holidays.”

“What?!”

“I couldn’t leave my girl alone here for Christmas, right?”

You felt your ears warming up at the sound of him calling you _his girl_.

“But… the Potters…?” you tried to protest, but he shushed you.

“I’ve sent them a letter. Told them that a good friend of mine would be alone if I left the Castle. And you know the Potters… they merely replied by saying that they would send some of Euphemia’s famous cookies for you too.”

You both laughed, and you felt tears stinging your eyes. So you rushed into his arms to try to hide your face against his chest. You wrapped your arms around his neck, while he snaked his arms around you, holding you tightly against him.

“Thank you,” you whispered, your voice made barely audible by his shirt. “Thank you for staying here with me.”

“You’re welcome, Y/N,” he grinned.

You looked up at him, mischief shining in your eyes.

“So… what are we going to do now?”

————————————————

“I LOVE THOSE MARCHMALLOWS!!!”

Sirius merely laughed at you, drinking a bit more of his hot chocolate.

You giggled, pointing at his lips!

“Nice mustaches!”

Sirius merely laughed, cleaning up his face.

He cursed as his bun went loose again and some of his dark hair came falling before his eyes.

“You know that if you’re so annoyed by your hair you can cut it,” you teased him, faking innocence when you knew how he felt about this idea.

And indeed he looked at you with eyes full of horror.

“Y/N, never until my last breath will I have short hair again!”

You laughed at him, before gesturing him to get closer to you.

“Come here, I’ll attach it for you.”

He turned around and let you tie his hair into a bun.

“What time is it?” you asked him.

“Almost midnight.”

“It’s almost Christmas!”

He smiled at the sound of your excited voice.

“Thank you again, for staying with me,” you said, running your hands in his hair in a soothing way instead of attaching it.

He closed his eyes, relaxing under your soft touch.

“You’re welcome, I reckon that we did have quite a lot of fun together!” he smiled.

“Well, you did manage to get me in detention!” you complained, but he merely chuckled.

“Excuse me, you were far from innocent, may I remind you that it was _your_ idea? And you have to admit that listening to all the armours singing jingle bells every time someone passed before them was brilliant! I thought Filch was going to go insane.”

“He’s already insane though!”

You both laughed.

“And you’re not going to complain about this brilliant idea of mine about making all the books in the Library fly around the school because that was bloody brilliant!” he added.

“It was,” you nodded, doubling with laughter.

“We’re a good pair of troublemakers,” he smirked.

You gently pulled on his hair to tease him, and he growled, faking outrage.

“Sirius…” you asked slowly, finally attaching his hair, and he turned towards you again. “Can I ask you something?”

He smiled.

“Of course you can,” he nodded.

“Why… Why did you stay?”

“What do you mean?” he asked back. “I told you, I didn’t want you to be alone for Christmas.”

He shrugged, staring at you, and you couldn’t look away from his eyes. And his face was very close to yours and it was making your heart race under your ribs so damn fast…

“I mean… I’ve spent my fair share of Christmases alone,” he said. “Or well, with my family in Grimmauld Place, which is the same thing in the end. And… I remember, I was so happy when I spent Christmas with James and the Potters for the first time! I just… I didn’t want your last Christmas here being wasted because you’re alone.”

You exchanged a soft smile.

“So you… stayed because we’re friends, right?” you asked shyly.

You didn’t really know why you were asking this, what you expected from this conversation. Sure, Sirius was your best friend, but you had never imagined for a second that your feelings were mutual.

What game were you playing at all of a sudden?

And yet, you could see the tip of his ears reddening slightly despite his casual smile.

“Well… yes.”

“But, when Remus stayed two years ago you… you didn’t stay here too.”

He shrugged nonchalantly.

“I just wanted to stay with you, that’s all.”

You nodded, letting out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Your faces were just inches away, close enough for you to feel his warm breath brushing your skin and it was making your head spin slightly. You could smell his smell of cigarettes and chocolate and warm fire burning in the hearth…

You were grateful to be sitting, because your knees were shaking.

“Well, thanks again,” you smiled, scooting a bit further away from him in an attempt to make your heart slow down.

Sirius checked his watch, a bright smile forming on his face.

“It’s Christmas!” he smiled brightly.

He reached for a gift that he had already put under the Christmas tree next to the two of you.

“Here! That’s for you!” he grinned.

“Aren’t we supposed to wait till morning?” you chuckled.

“Who cares?” he laughed. “Take it, that’s for you.”

“Sirius…”

“Shut up, and take that bloody gift before I change my mind!”

You laughed at him, before taking his gift, but you didn’t open it just yet. You kept on staring at it, and Sirius frowned slightly.

“What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

“I… It’s strange to think that it’s our last year here. That after that we’ll be out there…”

“Let’s not talk about that, okay?” Sirius interrupted you, and you looked up at him again. “Let’s… for just these few days, let’s forget about all that is happening out there. Let’s forget about all this mess, okay? For now we’re at Hogwarts and that’s enough.”

“Thank you, I’ve loved playing all these pranks with you.”

“I know that you’re a very mischievous Hufflepuff,” Sirius smirked. “Moony keeps on saying that you should be the fifth Marauder.”

You both laughed.

“Now, will you open that gift!” he mocked you, and you nudged him, before finally opening the box he had given you.

You exploded with laughter.

“A book of recipes! Are you serious?!”

“That’s my name…”

“Don’t make that pun again!” you warned him, but you were laughing too hard for you to be frightening in any way.

“It’s a great pun.”

“No, it’s awful!”

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I’m a bit perplexed…” you admitted. “You know I’m an awful cook.”

“I know, that’s why I didn’t buy only this book.”

You frowned, but when he opened the book, you discovered…

“Are those…” you breathed.

“Yep, it is.”

“OH MERLIN!” you shrieked excitedly. “But how did you find two tickets for the Harpies!?”

“I… bought them. Four months ago.”

“You… thought about my Christmas gift _four month ago_?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, and you saw the tip of his ears reddening again. “Not like it’s something that comes by surprise, you know? It kind of repeats itself every year.”

“Thank you, Sirius!”

“You’re welcome.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, making him chuckle, and he held you tightly against him as well.

“Well, I guess I should give you your gift too then,” you smiled.

But when you made a movement to pull away, he tightened his hold on you, and you could have sworn that you had heard him taking a deep breath.

“Actually… I’d like to ask for something this year.”

You chuckled.

“It’s a bit late to write your letter to Santa,” you joked, resting your head in the crook of his neck.

“Yeah, I know but… I don’t want something that you could buy me so…”

“What is it? And don’t say copy my Potions essay, because I won’t give it to you! I’ve worked too hard for it.”

He chuckled.

“That’s tempting, but that’s not what I was thinking about.”

“What is it then?”

“I… I wanted to ask you…” he said slowly, and if you didn’t know him you would have said that he sounded kind of nervous.

Although Sirius was nervous for anything… right?

“Would you… go to Hogsmeade with me? I mean… If you’re not already going with someone else.”

You frowned, looking up at him again.

“We always go to Hogsmeade together,” you smiled, although you were quite puzzled by his question.

“Yeah but… This time I would… like to go on a date.”

Your eyes became round with shock.

“You… what?” you breathed.

“I would like to take you on a date,” he repeated.

“But… why would you do that?”

“Because… I like you,” he said softly, but matter-of-factly nonetheless.

“You… like me… like… not like a friend?”

“No, not like a friend,” he answered.

“Wow…”

He waited for you to speak, but you remained silent for a rather long time, too shocked to be able to wrap your mind around the whole thing…

“Could you say something? Like… 'yes’ would be great,” he tried to joke.

You shook yourself.

“But… Since when do you take girls on dates anyway? I thought you were more… like snogging them in a cupboard.”

He frowned hard.

“But… you’re my best friend… of course I don’t want to snog you… I mean… yes, I do want to snog you but…”

“You want to snog me?!”

“Could you shut up for a second and let me explain everything?”

“You’re the one who wanted me to talk in the first place.”

“Yeah, but now I need you to shut up and listen to me.”

“Alright, I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath, his eyes fixed upon yours, and he bit his lip before starting to speak. You could hear that he was trying to carefully choose his words.

“I like you. I… don’t see just a friend in you anymore and… if you think that you could possibly… one day… feel the same then I’d like to try to be with you. And I mean really with you, something serious, something that will hold… long after we’re done with school and… I mean… You’re my best friend, let’s be honest. You know me better than anyone and I know that I’m not the best that you could have, that my… family fucked up with my head and now I’m a mess for the most part but you’re… you’re the only person who can save me I think. And no matter how crazy this looks like I want to try it. If you’re willing to give it a try of course. And I promise you that I’ll take care of you and protect you and love you and… I’ll be there. And you’ll be the only one in my life you can be sure of that. So… what do you say?”

You stared at him for a few seconds, trying to understand and realize the meaning of his words, and slowly, a smile formed on your lips.

“You really mean all that?” you asked, tears shining in your eyes.

“I do actually.”

“We’re not getting in a cupboard.”

“Deal.”

“You’re not seeing anyone else…”

“Never, don’t be stupid.”

You smiled at each other for a moment, before you would finally nod slowly.

“I think… that I’d love to have a date with you,” you grinned.

“Really?”

You nodded again.

“I hate this bloody teashop though, don’t take me there,” you warned him, making the two of you laugh.

“I know you hate it, don’t worry. The Three Broomsticks sounds much better.”

“It does indeed.”

You were still trapped inside his tight embrace, and you could feel his heart beating just as fast as yours against your chest. Slowly, you glanced down at his lips.

“Y/N?”

“Yes?”

“Look up.”

You frowned slightly before complying, and you couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of mistletoe hanging right above the two of you in mid-air.

“Always so eager to show your wandless magic, huh,” you teased, but not daring to meet his eyes, for you knew that you would be lost the second you would fall into them.

“Come in handy, from time to time,” he smirked.

“Sometimes,” you nodded.

He raised his hand to cup your cheek, and he forced you to look up at him. And you had been right, the second your eyes met his grey gaze you were lost for good, they were like two traps ready to capture your heart and soul.

“It’s bad luck not to honour the tradition though,” he said, and you could hear that he was slightly out of breath.

“What are you waiting for then?” you answered, hopping he wouldn’t notice your shaking voice.

He didn’t need anything more to let his lips dive to yours. And as you were kissing, sitting there, in the middle of your Common Room, next to the Christmas tree, you had to admit that Sirius was always the best at offering Christmas gifts…


End file.
